1976 Republican Platform: Older Americans

Older Americans constitute one of our most valuable resources.

Families should be supported in trying to take care of their
elderly. Too often government laws and policies contribute to the
deterioration of family life. Our tax laws, for example, permit a
deduction to the taxpayer who gives a contribution to a
charitable institution that might care for an elderly parent, but
offer little or no incentive to provide care in the home. If an
elderly parent relinquishes certain assets and enters a nursing
home, the parent may qualify for full Medicaid coverage, but if
parents live with their children, any Supplemental Security
Income benefit for which they are eligible may be reduced.
Incentives must be written into law to encourage families to care
for their older members.

Along with loneliness and ill health, older Americans are
deeply threatened by inflation. The costs of the basic
necessities of life -- food, shelter, clothing, health care --
have risen so drastically as to reduce the ability of many older
persons to subsist with any measure of dignity. In addition to
our program for protecting against excessive costs of long-term
illness, nothing will be as beneficial to the elderly as the
effect of this Platform's proposals on curbing inflation.

The Social Security benefits are of inestimable importance to
the well-being and financial peace of mind of most older
Americans. We will not let the Social Security system fail. We
will work to make the Social Security system actuarially sound.
The Social Security program must not be turned into a welfare
system, based on need rather than contributions. The cost to
employers for Social Security contributions must not be raised to
the point where they will be unable to afford contributions to
employees' private pension programs. We will work for an increase
in the earned income ceiling or its elimination so that, as
people live longer, there will not be the present penalty on work.
We will also seek to correct those provisions of the system that
now discriminate against women and married couples.

Such programs as Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions,
which provide income exempt from Social Security limitations,
should be continued and extended to encourage senior citizens to
continue to be active and involved in society. Appropriate
domiciliary care programs should be developed to enable senior
citizens to receive such care without losing other benefits to
which they may be entitled.

We favor the abolition of arbitrary age levels for mandatory
retirement.

The Medicare program must be improved to help control
inflation in health care costs triggered by present regulations.

Other areas of concern to the elderly that need increased
attention are home and outpatient care, adequate transportation,
nutrition, day care and homemaker care as an alternative to
costly institutional treatment.

A nation should be judged by its ability to help make all the
years of life as productive and gainful as possible. This nation
still has a job to do.